Title: Learn PHP / MySQL / CSS through WordPress?
Last modified: August 18, 2016

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# Learn PHP / MySQL / CSS through WordPress?

 *  [cloneofsnake](https://wordpress.org/support/users/cloneofsnake/)
 * (@cloneofsnake)
 * [19 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/learn-php-mysql-css-through-wordpress/)
 * Is there any good documentation on dissecting WordPress? Any tips on where to
   begin? I would really like to understand everything beneath the hood. Any suggestions?
 * To me, the best way to learn something is to just jump in and start working while
   learning it at the same time. So… I guess I want to use WP like a normal user,
   while looking at the codes behind to see what is going on. Where can I find that
   kind of documentation?
 * (I know there’s the dev page,
    [http://codex.wordpress.org/Developer_Documentation](http://codex.wordpress.org/Developer_Documentation)
   and I’ve signed up at the dev mailing list, [http://codex.wordpress.org/Mailing_Lists](http://codex.wordpress.org/Mailing_Lists)
   Just wondering if someone has similar experience doing the same things and can
   give me a few tips.)
 * Thanks!!

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

 *  [peiqinglong](https://wordpress.org/support/users/peiqinglong/)
 * (@peiqinglong)
 * [19 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/learn-php-mysql-css-through-wordpress/#post-477807)
 * So far I have not seen a line by line disecting of the WP code. A few things 
   that worked for me is:
 * 1) Download a lot of themes and look through their code and compare it up to 
   the default theme to see how they work and interact.
 * 2) Read the WP documentation for little tips and tricks.
 * 3) Google search PHP techniques and tried them to see if they would work in WP.
 * 4) and finally, just experimenting.
 * Here is what I’ve been able to do so far:
 * [http://www.bui4ever.com](http://www.bui4ever.com) and [http://www.abunchofcars.com](http://www.abunchofcars.com)
 *  Thread Starter [cloneofsnake](https://wordpress.org/support/users/cloneofsnake/)
 * (@cloneofsnake)
 * [19 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/learn-php-mysql-css-through-wordpress/#post-478094)
 * Thanks, WP actually has quite amazing docs, there’re just too many so I didn’t
   find the right one yet. I think I’ve found it now though – [http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Development](http://codex.wordpress.org/Theme_Development)
 * Thanks for the suggestions, I’ll pick apart the 1.5 default theme to learn the
   basics.
 *  [theiconoclast31](https://wordpress.org/support/users/theiconoclast31/)
 * (@theiconoclast31)
 * [19 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/learn-php-mysql-css-through-wordpress/#post-478100)
 * [UrbanGiraffe’s tutorial](http://www.urbangiraffe.com/2005/04/12/themeguide1/)
   is very helpful, and it taught me everything I know about CSS.
 * Also, you can find a ton of stuff by just searching Digg.com for “CSS”. [TheUndersigned](http://theundersigned.net/2006/05/from-xhtmlcss-to-wordpress/)
   got 847 Diggs, but I haven’t read it myself.
 * I think the Codex is a great reference, but it’s not a very good step-by-step-
   guide to CSS. Just my 2c, though, YMMV.
 *  Thread Starter [cloneofsnake](https://wordpress.org/support/users/cloneofsnake/)
 * (@cloneofsnake)
 * [19 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/learn-php-mysql-css-through-wordpress/#post-478304)
 * This is funny, I just found the UrbanGiraffe’s Dissection of a WordPress theme
   too! Thought I’d come back here and update this thread. Hope it’ll help me as
   much as it helped you.
 * I’ve read TheUndersigned’s article, and I’ve been trying to take apart the default
   theme and his Whitespace theme… but it’s much harder than I thought!! 🙁

Viewing 4 replies - 1 through 4 (of 4 total)

The topic ‘Learn PHP / MySQL / CSS through WordPress?’ is closed to new replies.

## Tags

 * [Coding](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/coding/)
 * [learn](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/learn/)
 * [learning](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/learning/)
 * [MySQL](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/mysql/)
 * [php](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/php/)
 * [programming](https://wordpress.org/support/topic-tag/programming/)

 * In: [Everything else WordPress](https://wordpress.org/support/forum/miscellaneous/)
 * 4 replies
 * 3 participants
 * Last reply from: [cloneofsnake](https://wordpress.org/support/users/cloneofsnake/)
 * Last activity: [19 years, 6 months ago](https://wordpress.org/support/topic/learn-php-mysql-css-through-wordpress/#post-478304)
 * Status: not a support question

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